FREE Email Newsletter

Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

So seldom do companies continue to create incentives to retain employees that I was astonished to find Google had extended yet another fringe benefit, a geek haven.
In an effort to extend the company’s founding principles through every bronchiole of its hierarchy, co-founder Larry Page’s latest brainchild, “ Google Workshops ”, offers employees a chance to get a taste of Google’s earliest days.

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — General Dynamics Corp. said Wednesday it received a $33.5 million contract modification to develop advanced undersea technologies.
The U.S. Navy awarded the contract to General Dynamics' Electric Boat unit. Electric Boat will conduct research and development studies on technology areas including manufacturing, maintainability, survivability, hydrodynamics, acoustics, and materials.

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Deere & Co. plans to invest $80 million in a new agricultural equipment manufacturingplant in northeast China to help meet increased demand in the region.
Deere, based in Moline, Ill., announced the new plant Wednesday morning as it released its quarterly earnings report.

GENEVA (AP) — European aircraft maker Airbus received state subsidies that hurt U.S. rival Boeing Inc., but not all of them were illegal under international rules, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday.
The mixed decision by a WTO appeals panel allowed Brussels and Washington to both claim a victory of sorts in their tit-for-tat dispute over financial aid to airplane manufacturers that has become the costliest and most complex ever to be heard by the international trade body.

NEWNAN, Ga. (AP) — Yamaha officials say the first production run of new all-terrain vehicle models transferred to the U.S. from overseas facilities will take place this month at the company's factory in Newnan, Ga.
Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America called the announcement on Wednesday a major step forward in the companies' long-term strategy to transfer the majority of Yamaha's worldwide ATV manufacturing to the U.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Fond du Lac man has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Kraft Foods of firing him rather than accommodating his bad back.
James L. Brown was hired in 2001 at a Kraft frozen-pizza facility in Little Chute.
His lawsuit says he missed a few days of work in 2008 to get treatment for chronic back pain.

Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs , has headed to Washington to help mount a PR campaign in support of work. As he explains in the video, America has become obsessed with white-collar work, leading to massive gaps in the skilled labor workforce.
If you’re having trouble watching this video, try downloading the latest version of Flash Player or contacting your IT department.

Florenzo Omenetto demonstrates how silk is involved in transmitting light, improving sustainability, adding strength, and making medical leaps and bounds.
If you’re having trouble watching this video, try downloading the latest version of Flash Player or contacting your IT department.

According to some student researchers at Ohio University, urine could be used as a source of energy, thanks to the high levels of hydrogen that is present in the organic compound urea. That hydrogen is pumped to a fuel cell, which can be used to power a variety of gadgets and machines.
Sound too good to be true? The math, unbelievably, supports the usefulness of this technology.

Richard Branson, well-known for his wide-ranging business ventures, is now at the forefront of the private space industry. MSNBC asks, Will the end of the shuttle era mean more competitiveness in the space race? Branson certainly thinks so, saying that NASA’s minimizing will allow private companies to do the same work for a fraction of the cost.

A recent survey shows that sales of vinyl records is growing at 13.6 percent, just beating out digital sales, at 13 percent, which means that a whole industry is in the process of being reborn. CNN Money visited Brooklyn-based EKS Manufacturing to see what the industry uptick has meant for business.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man fired from his job at a small manufacturing company went to his employers' home Tuesday with a handgun and shot them both, then barricaded himself inside their basement before he was shot to death during a police confrontation, authorities said.
Ilya Iglanov, 48, went to the couple's home at about 12:30 p.

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The former chief financial officer for an electronic door lock manufacturer in Sparks has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of embezzling more than $2 million from his employer.
Federal prosecutors say Juan Ramon Cabezas surrendered to authorities on Tuesday.
The 55-year-old Reno man was indicted May 11 on 22 counts of bank fraud and 15 counts of mail fraud.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — General Mills says it has signed a deal to buy a controlling stake in French yogurt company Yoplait for about $1.15 billion.
The deal protects General Mills' U.S. yogurt business. The food maker has sold the world's second-largest yogurt brand under license in the U.S. for 30 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Often maligned, the french fry is fighting back.
The spud has had a tough time lately. In the last year, it has been marginalized by new school lunch rules, demonized by a popular television program and blamed for the nation's obesity epidemic. Health advocates and government officials have pushed to take them off lunch lines, where kids often reach for the crispy treats instead of greener vegetables.

MOLINE, Illinois (AP) — Deere & Co. said Wednesday its fiscal second-quarter profit soared 65 percent because of strong demand for its agricultural equipment, especially in the United States, Canada and Brazil.
The company also said it plans to invest $80 million in a new agricultural equipment manufacturing plant in northeast China to help meet increased demand in the region.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mack Trucks Inc. and its parent, AB Volvo, will pay $525 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by more than 9,300 retirees of the North Carolina truck maker after they challenged potential reductions to their lifetime health benefits.
The Legal Intelligencer reported Tuesday that Senior U.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — After its CEO warned of another tough quarter, Hewlett-Packard Co. cut its full-year outlook Tuesday citing to soft PC sales and the effects of the earthquake in Japan.
HP said its net income for the latest quarter rose slightly, but investors focused on challenges ahead sent shares down 5 percent before the market opened Tuesday.

When energy ministers from major economies met at the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in Abu Dhabi recently, one of the reports they considered was one investigating the industrial use of captured CO2 to accelerate the uptake of carbon capture and storage (CCS).
This was one of the pieces of work commissioned by the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom, which chair the action group looking at carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS).